The present invention relates to a multi-directional operating switch activated by a tilting manipulation as well as a pushing manipulation of a manipulating shaft, used mainly in an input controller or the like of a mobile communications device such as a portable telephone, a radio pager, etc., as well as various electronic devices such as remote controllers, audio equipment, game machines, car navigation systems, electronic cameras, and the like. The invention also relates to a multi-directional operating device using the same.
A conventional multi-directional operating switch will be described hereinafter by referring to FIG. 13 through FIG. 16.
In FIG. 13 depicting a sectioned front view, a box-like case 1, made of plastic resin, has an opening in an upper surface covered by a cover 2 made of a metal plate, or the like.
A bottom surface of the case 1 is provided with a central contact 3A, an outer contact 3B, and four peripheral contacts 4, 5, 6 and 7 disposed in positions equidistant from the central contact 3A toward directions of right, left, back and front, all fixed by an insert molding. These contacts are connected individually to their respective terminals 14A, 14B, and 15, 16, 17 and 18. A dome-like circular movable contact 8 is placed over the outer contact 3B. A common movable contact 9 is fixed by dowels 1A above the peripheral contacts 4, 5, 6 and 7 in such a manner that flexible contact leaves 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the common movable contact 9 face their respective peripheral contacts 4, 5, 6 and 7. The common movable contact 9 is connected to a terminal 19A for external connection via a contact 19 on the bottom surface of the case 1.
A supporting body 21 is positioned above the common movable contact 9, and a square-shaped upper end 21A of the supporting body 21 maintains a resilient contact with an underside surface of the cover 2, as it is biased upwardly by a compression coil spring 20 disposed beside an inner periphery along side walls of the case 1. A recessed portion 21B in the center of the supporting body 21 holds a semispherical rotary body 22.
The rotary body 22 is in a position where a flange portion 22A at its lower perimeter rests on a bottom surface of the recess portion 21B in the center of the supporting body 21, and an upper spherical portion 22B fits in contact with a spherical surface of a circular hole 2A in the center of the cover 2. A rod-like manipulating shaft 23 made of metal is inserted and held in a vertical center hole 22C having a noncircular shape in the rotary body 22 in a vertically slidable manner.
The manipulating shaft 23 has a lower end 23A projecting downwardly from the rotary body 22, so as to rest in contact with the dome-like circular movable contact 8 in the center of the bottom surface of the case 1. A manipulation knob 24 is mounted on a tip end 23B of the manipulating shaft 23 projecting upwardly above the case 1.
A lower surface around an outer perimeter of the supporting body 21 is provided with depressing points 25A, 25B, 25C and 25D, corresponding respectively to the flexible contact leaves 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the common movable contact 9. Incidentally, the depressing points 25C and 25D corresponding to the flexible contact leaves 12 and 13 are not shown in FIG. 13, since it is a sectional view depicting only one side of the switch.
The multi-directional operating switch operates in a manner as described hereinafter. First, the manipulating shaft 23 is in its vertical neutral position, and all contacts of the multi-directional operating switch are in their OFF positions in a state of FIG. 13, wherein the lower end 23A of the manipulating shaft 23 does not depress the dome-like circular movable contact 8 at the center.
When a left upper surface of the manipulation knob 24, mounted on the tip end 23B at an upper part of the manipulating shaft 23, is depressed downward, as indicated by an arrow 100 in a sectioned front view of FIG. 15, the manipulating shaft 23 tilts and the rotary body 22 rotates toward the left side while maintaining a contact with the spherical surface of the circular hole 2A of the cover 2. This causes an edge of the flange portion 22A on the underside of the rotary body 22 to push the bottom surface of the recess portion 21B of the supporting body 21 downward. The supporting body 21 then tilts left around a fulcrum at one side of the square-shaped upper edge 21A opposite to the surface being pushed, and thereby the flexible contact leaf 10 corresponding to the depressed point 25A is pushed downward to come in contact with the peripheral contact 4. This establishes electrical continuity between the common movable contact 9 and the peripheral contact 4, and completes a state of continuity between the terminals 19A and 15 for external connections. During this movement, a left side of the upper edge 21A in the perimeter of the supporting body 21 separates from the underside surface of the cover 2, while depressing the compression coil spring 20 downward.
When the depressing force applied to the manipulation knob 24 is subsequently removed, the restoring force of the compression coil spring 20 pushes the supporting body 21 and the rotary body 22 back to their original neutral positions shown in FIG. 13. At the same time, the resilient restoring force also returns the flexible contact leaf 10 to the original position shown in FIG. 13 by separating it from the peripheral contact 4, thereby returning the switch contact to the OFF state.
Likewise, electrical continuity can be established between any of the terminals 16, 17 and 18 and the terminal 19A for external connections, by changing a position to be depressed between the right side, near side and a back side, respectively, on the upper surface of the operating knob 24 mounted on the manipulating shaft 23.
When a upper center surface of the operating knob 24, i.e. the manipulating shaft 23, is pushed downwardly by placing a vertical depressing force from above, as shown by arrow 200 (indicated in a sectioned front view of FIG. 16), the lower end 23A pushes the dome-like circular movable contact 8 on the bottom surface of the case 1, causing it to deform. This makes the dome-like circular movable contact 8 on the bottom surface produce a tactile response, and establish a state of continuity between the terminals 14A and 14B by establishing electrical continuity between the central contact 3A and the outer contact 3B. The manipulating shaft 23 is pushed up by the restoring force of the dome-like circular movable contact 8, and returned to its original position shown in FIG. 13, when the depressing force is removed.
In spite of a growing demand for downsizing of a variety of the latest electronic apparatuses, it has been difficult to realize a reduction in the overall dimension and thickness of the above described conventional multi-directional operating switch. In addition, the cost has been too high due to the large number of constituent components. The conventional switch also has had a problem in that it is difficult for an operator to sensory determine when a switch contact turns on, since the switch does not produce a positive tactile response when switching is made by tilting the manipulating shaft.
The present invention is intended to overcome the above problems of the prior art device, and aims at providing a multi-directional operating switch, which is small, thin and uses a small number of components, yet it is capable of making a reliable switching operation with a tactile response even when the switching is made by tilting a manipulating shaft sideways. The invention also aims at providing a multi-directional operating device employing the multi-directional operating switch.
A multi-directional operating switch of the present invention includes: (a) a case having an opening in an upper surface, provided with a central contact, an outer contact disposed in a position spaced away from the central contact, and a plurality of peripheral contacts, all disposed on a bottom surface of it; (b) a dome-like circular movable contact having a center portion disposed above the central contact, and a lower peripheral rim resting in contact with the outer contact; (c) a cover provided with a through hole in a location concentric to the dome-like circular movable contact; and (d) a manipulation body including a shaft protruding the through hole in the cover, a flange having electrical conductivity on at least a lower surface of it, the flange disposed at a lower end of the shaft, and a projection extending from the lower surface of the flange, the manipulation body positioned in a manner that it is not rotatable, but the shaft is tiltable and vertically movable, and the manipulation body also being kept biased upwardly by the dome-like circular movable contact in a manner that at least an upper peripheral surface of the flange stays in contact with a lower surface of the cover, wherein the projection on the flange depresses and deforms the dome-like circular movable contact, which in turn establishes an electrical continuity between the central contact and the outer contact, when the shaft is subjected to a downward pushing manipulation, and the lower surface of the flange makes an electrical continuity between two adjacent peripheral contacts located at a side of tilting direction, when the shaft of the manipulation body is subjected to a tilting manipulation.
With the foregoing structure, the invention can thus realize the multi-directional operating switch that is small and thin in size, and exceedingly manipulatable with reliable switching capability, at low cost and having a small number of constituent components. The switch is also capable of producing a certain magnitude of tactile response with only a single dome-like circular movable contact disposed in the case, even when a switching operation is performed between adjacent pairs of the peripheral contacts by tilting the shaft of the manipulation body sideways, in addition to establishing electrical continuity between the central contact and the outer contact by pushing the shaft of the manipulation body vertically downward.
Further, a multi-directional operating switch of the present invention includes a case having an opening of generally a square shape, provided with a peripheral contact at each corner of the opening, in which a flange of a manipulation body formed into a shape generally similar to the opening is housed. This structure can easily prevent the flange of the manipulation body from turning within the case when the manipulation body is manipulated, and maintain proper positions of both components with respect to each other at all times. Consequently, the manipulating shaft can be tilted and held reliably in a direction intermediate between any adjacent pair of the peripheral contacts disposed at each corner in the case, since the generally square-shaped flange stays stationary with one of its lower sides resting on a bottom surface of the case when the manipulation body is tilted. In addition, the structure makes it easy to set an equal tilting angle of the shaft of the manipulation body at all tilting directions, at which any adjacent pair of the peripheral contacts come into an ON state. Therefore, the invention provides an advantage of realizing a multi-directional operating switch, which is small in overall dimensions with a simple structure, yet capable of making switching operations with an equal angle of tilting manipulation toward all four directions that are frequently used.
In another aspect of this invention, a multi-directional operating switch is constructed so that both an opening in a case and a flange of a manipulation body have a generally rectangle shape. This structure realizes a multi-directional operating switch that can differentiate tilting angles of a shaft of the manipulation body, at which any adjacent pair of peripheral contacts come into an ON state, between two tilting directions intersecting with each other, by varying a proportion in length between a longitudinal side and a lateral side of the rectangular opening and the flange.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a multi-directional operating switch includes a case having an opening having a generally pentagonal, hexagonal, or octagonal shape, provided with a peripheral contact at each corner of the opening. The opening houses a flange of a manipulation body, formed into a shape generally similar to that of the opening. This structure is able to readily provide the multi-directional operating switch wherein the flange of the manipulation body is restricted from turning within the case, and the manipulation body is tiltable toward a desired number of directions by adopting the polygonal shape having the desired number of sides.
In still another aspect of the invention, a multi-directional operating switch includes a case having a circular shaped opening, provided with peripheral contacts disposed at an equal distance and an equal angle with respect to the center of the opening. The opening houses a flange of a manipulation body, formed into a circular shape with a diameter slightly smaller than that of the opening. In addition, the switch is provided with a turn restricting means at a portion where a shaft of the manipulation body engages with a through hole in a cover, in order to maintain a relative position of the flange of the manipulation body with respect to the peripheral contacts in the case. This multi-directional operating switch can be manipulated in a manner that a top end of the shaft of the manipulation body moves circularly while the shaft is kept tilted, since the manipulation body has the circular-shaped flange. Thereby, making it capable of switching a plurality of the peripheral contacts disposed in the circular opening smoothly in a consecutive manner.
Furthermore, a multi-directional operating switch of this invention is provided with a cover having a through hole in a shape other than a circle, and a manipulation body having a shaft also in a shape other than a circle in crosssection, for insertion into the through hole, to serve as a turn restricting means for the manipulation body provided with a circular flange. This structure, despite its simple construction, can reliably prevent the manipulation body from turning within a case.
In a multi-directional operating switch of the present invention having the above-described structure, at least a projection provided on a lower surface of a flange of a manipulation body is constructed of an insulation material. This projection can positively isolate a group of switching circuits through peripheral contacts from another group of switching circuits connected through a central contact and an outer contact via a dome-like circular movable contact.
In another aspect of this invention, a multi-directional operating switch includes a cover made of a rigid insulation material, a manipulation body having a shaft and a projection molded integrally on a lower end of a flange with a rigid insulation material, and an electrically conductive plate-like contact plate secured to the manipulation body. This multi-directional operating switch is capable of obstructing external electrostatic noises and the like from entering into a switching circuit, because the structure protecting the switch contacts a space with the insulative cover. The structure can also provide a product of thin configuration, since it reduces a thickness of the flange secured to the manipulation body.
In still another aspect of this invention, a multi-directional operating switch includes a cover made of a rigid insulation material, a manipulation body having a shaft and a flange composed integrally with an electrically conductive material, and a projection made of an insulation material attached to a lower surface in the center of the flange. Since the shaft and the flange of the manipulation body are integrally composed, they move solidly and positively to create reliable switching with individual contacts, without wobbling, when the manipulation body is subjected to a predetermined manipulatory movement. In addition, the above structure facilitates adjustment of a magnitude of tactile response during a manipulation, if necessary, by selecting a shape and a size of the projection to be attached.
In still another aspect of the invention, a multi-directional operating switch is provided with a manipulation body including a flange made of an electrically conductive material having resiliency. When a shaft of this switch is tilted, an electrical continuity is established first between two adjacent peripheral contacts of a given side. Another electrical continuity is then established between a central contact and an outer contact, when a projection under the flange subsequently pushes a dome-like circular movable contact after the flange on the manipulation body deforms resiliently. This structure provides the multi-directional operating switch that allows a selection of either state of continuity or non-continuity between the central contact and the outer contact by way of varying a manipulatory force to tilt the shaft, after an electrical continuity is made between any adjacent pair of the peripheral contacts. In an electronic apparatus equipped with this multi-directional operating switch, for example, it is possible to use the switch in a such functional manner that a variety of items displayed on a display window and the like are scrolled, or moved, at a low speed, when only the peripheral contacts are turned on, and they are scrolled at a high speed, when the central contact and the outer contact are additionally turned on. Moreover, this structure of the switch can prevent damage to contact members such as the peripheral contacts, even if the shaft is tilted excessively due to an unintentional large force given to the manipulation body, since the flange is resilient.
As has been described, this multi-directional operating switch, when mounted in a variety of multi-directional operating devices, can achieve congregation and simplification of a variety of manipulations as well as downsizing, and reductions in thickness and weight at the same time.